In this technical field processes and equipment are already known which enable the fabrication of tire reinforcements to be integrated with the assembly of the tire itself. This means that rather than having recourse to semi-finished products such as reinforcement plies, one or more reinforcements are made in situ, as the tire is being fabricated, and from a cord spool. Among the processes and equipment, the solution described in patent application EP 1 122 057 is well suited to the production of carcass reinforcements on a rigid core whose outer surface corresponds essentially to the shape of the internal cavity of the final tire. The document describes a device in which the cord intended to form a carcass reinforcement is positioned in contiguous arcs on a rigid core by a mechanism having at least two arms arranged in cascade, which undergo a back and forth movement around the core so as to put in place, progressively and in a contiguous manner, an arc each time it moves one way and an arc each time it moves the other way, with pressing elements appropriate for applying the ends of the arcs as they are formed on the rigid core. The core has previously been covered with uncured rubber in accordance with the structure of the tire, which has the advantageous property of allowing the arcs to be stuck on and kept in place sufficiently well at least for the purposes of fabrication.
The prior art includes several other devices with one or more arms which undergo alternating movements to transport an eyelet (or other cord laying element with a similar function) from one side to the other of the form serving as the build-up support for a tire. Reference can be made to patent applications EP 0 962 304, EP 1 231 049 and EP 1 231 050.
If it is desired to construct a device that can fabricate tires of very large width, it may be necessary to have equipment whose radial dimension is accordingly large relative to the build-up form, in particular of a size that can become considerably larger than for a chain device such as that described in patent application EP 0 580 055.